Yooper family treasures turned into digitized history

MARQUETTE– If you have any family treasure hiding in your basement or attic, they could become documented parts of the Upper Peninsula’s history.

The Marquette Regional History Center has received an approximately twelve-thousand dollar Common Heritage Grant from the National Endowment for Humanities. With this grant the center is digitizing family histories, heirlooms and documents for free and with the owners permission putting them in a online database that is open to the public. They are calling the project “Sisu Stories” and want to make it a celebration of Yooper history.

“It helps show that history is not just the rich white guys in Washington, history is made by everyone,” said Research historian Beth Gruber, “It’s made by the miners, by the immigrants, by the loggers and what happened to them is worth recording; it’s part of who we are.”

After the heirloom or document has been digitized, the owner can take both the item and a copy of the digitalized item home. The center says goal of “Sisu Stories” is to capture the flavor of the Upper Peninsula as well as focus on the unique skills and grit Yoppers needed in order to survive in this remote and harsh environment.